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My take on the difference between a Bushcraft and Survival knife.

marcinek said:
A bushcraft knife has an orange handle. (A "zombie" knife has a green handle.) A survival knife has a skull stencilled on it somewhere. :D

What a "bushcraft" knife is, and what a "survival" knife is, and what the difference between the two is, is whatever marketing departments say it is. You nailed it in the first sentence.
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If I use my bushcraft knife once the zombie apocalypse begins does it become a zombie knife or a survival knife?
 
Bushcraft varies all over the globe.
Survival varies all over the world..
Knives vary all over the world.
All work, all overlap,all must be labeled.
Marketers will be marketers, up to the consumer to take what is useful,discard what is not
 
marcinek said:
Than "survival"?!? You must have missed the "survival knife" thing years back.
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Ya, possibly I did. Or maybe I was able to ignore it much easier. In some cases, having a fixed blade knife with a compass, fishing line, and matches in the handle, a "saw" on the spine, and wrapped in paracord might actually be useful. ( said might, lol)
But quite frankly, I've never seen a useable knife that I couldn't use to make a fuzz stick, and in over 5 decades of outdoor adventures, I never once needed to baton anything to get or keep a fire going.
 
I only have 3 categories of knives. Folders, Outdoor knives, and indoor knives(kitchen knives). I don't really care about how/what the knife is sold as, as long as it performs as I want. I will use an outdoor knife inside sometimes. I consider a neck knife all the way to a brush sword or machete outdoor knives. But basically I call any harder use knife not made for the kitchen an outdoor knife. Everyone is different though. Label it what you like.
 
Does there really need to be a difference? doe the category of each knife actually matter? Why are we trying to create and parse out arbitrary distinctions where none are needed.
 
19-3ben said:
Does there really need to be a difference? doe the category of each knife actually matter? Why are we trying to create and parse out arbitrary distinctions where none are needed.
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That's the marketing again. Create a need then fill it. "Sure you have a knife, but what you really need is a bushcraft knife, designed specially for what you want to do. You shouldn't go into a park, much less the woods without it" :rolleyes:
 
We can all talk page up and page down about marketing and how we all should persieve the matter.
But if you want to make a definition of a typical bushcraftknife vs a definition of a typical survivalknife, then those two definitions would differ quite a bit.

And the OP's definitions wouldn't be too far off.
 
It seems to me that a woodcraft knife is normally about pure cutting ability while a survival knife normally just has to cut good enough as long as it's indestructible.
 
For me, a survival knife is the one I'll almost certainly have on me when I need to survive and a bushcraft knife is one I'll use in the bush. If faced with a coyote ugly situation with a hairy partner any knife would probably fit both descriptions.
 
A "survival knife", i.e., a knife that will enable you to survive an unanticipated event(s), is to my way of thinking a knife that you are very familiar with and comfortable using. The knife that is a "no surprise from this guy" kind of tool will likely better enable you to make other tools, know when to stop doing something before you break it, take a keen edge, even on a rock, because you know what it takes to maintain an edge on that knife - among other things... Yeah, there may be other variables but knowing the tool is essential.

So says I :)

Ray
 
marcinek said:
First, a knife you throw in a bag somewhere and forget only helps you survive if you have that bag and knife you have forgotten with you.

Also you said a survival knife is an "oh crap I am in trouble I need to get out of this and back to civilization." knife. That's not "bugging out." In fact its the opposite. And when you are away from civilization shouldn't you have your bushcraft knife with you by default? Does it somehow turn into a "survival knife" at the first chance of trouble?

I think you are getting caught up in these terms and hoisted by your own petard.
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I think you are missing the point of an analogy. A bug out bag is ONE use. To me that is just ONE of the times you would be thinking of a "one tool" option. Another option is perhaps if you are backpacking and want to keep it "light" and avoid carrying an axe and/or a saw along. Maybe you just like having a bag in the car because you drive in bad weather/wilderness areas where you can break down etc. I could go on but regardless, again, they are but examples of where you want something that out of the gate you are looking for a one tool option.

If all you have is a Bushcraft knife of course it can also be used in an "oh crap" moment, but so can any knife, like my Opinel folder. However perhaps both of those knives are better suited to when you have the other tools available (the opinel especially).

Maybe it will make more sense if I use the term "woodcraft?" I am not talking the moder marketing spin of "Bushcraft". I study history and dabble in late 18th century/early 19th Century reenacting. So to me a "Bushcraft"/woodcraft knife is the knife a frontiersman would carry as they set up their cabin for a season of trapping and the like. It could get them through an "oh crap" moment but it was really designed with the idea that they also had an axe and/or saw, among other tools, with them as well. On the other hand what we call a survival knife is designed with "oh crap" in mind out of the gate.

This wont be the best analogy because I am jumping to swords but this is another jumping off point to my logic. I see similar things with the blades that are part of the Filipino Martial Arts I study. Some blades are better fighting weapons because they were designed for that, they not only slash and thrust very well. If you HAVE to you can use them as a tool but you would want to avoid it.

On the other hand there are weapons designed primarily as tools that can also be fought with. Maybe the tool lacks a good thrusting point, or a false edge for a reverse cut. However the spine tends to be thicker and they have either a big belly or a forward sweep that make them an excellent chopper.

So if I was thinking "I just want to fight!" I would likely go with the Kris. Light, well balanced, double edged, good thrusting. It is a weapon, first and foremost.

If I wanted a tool and a weapon in one, a ginunting or a barong would likely be my choice. Not quite as good as a weapon (if you are looking at it from a trained perspective) but it can do that job AND I would not hesitate to do some serious wood processing with either. The ginunting especially is one hell of a chopper.

I think maybe the issue is perspective because I seem to have missed the boat on the "Bushcraft vs Survival" drama that others appear to be referencing. I have tended to just do my own thing for the last 20 years using military training and then 18th and 19th century historical sources to expand my knowledge base.
 
Juany118 said:
Another option is perhaps if you are backpacking and want to keep it "light" and avoid carrying an axe and/or a saw along. Maybe you just like having a bag in the car because you drive in bad weather/wilderness areas where you can break down etc. I could go on but regardless, again, they are but examples of where you want something that out of the gate you are looking for a one tool option.
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So any "one tool" option is a "survival" knife? So if I go take just a Mora on a day hike or just a Vic Classic on the bus, it is "survival"?

I'm not following.

Again, I feel like you got your teeth sunk in on defining these terms and you are not letting go. Sink or swim on this thing.
 
I always thought the whole "Bushcraft" thing was about using a knife to make stuff. Feathersticks, wooden spoons etc. It was all about fun, and through that fun, you were learning knife skills and making useful things.

Nothing like having some good knife skills if you find yourself in a survival situation and you have a knife on you! But survival is really 99% mental. It doesn't matter what tools or supplies you have with you if you panic and badly injure yourself, or lose the desire to push on!

With the mental state of mind for determination, humans can be extremely resourceful, innovative and surprisingly resilient. With or without a knife.
 
Seems to me that over the years, makers have pushed overly large, impractical blade as "survival" knives and "bushcraft" knives have been a little more reasonable in their design and marketing.

I own a "bushcraft" knife (Benchmade 162) and the one thing that I really have never done with it is woodcraft. It's been used for kitchen/food prep, yard work, and general cutting task. I have found it to be acceptable for those tasks but, not always the best knife for my needs. Sometimes I feel that the blade is a little short but, only by about a half inch, at most.

Maybe I'm missing something but if I can only have one knife to "survive", why not make it a knife that is practical for the most common things I would use a knife for? How about a plain blade that is 5" or less and in a steel easy to sharpen? Certainly not an extra large, saw back, Rambo style clip point.

All the years I was with the Corp of Engineers, I rarely needed a blade over 3.5-4 inches long in the field. When I did, it was mission specific, like a machete or a bayonet. To me, that says a lot.

I can't picture using some large blade (say 9"?) for all my task. So, the idea of a single, large blade so that I can "survive" just seems absurd. I can see a smaller knife to dress small game and a slightly larger fixed blade to meet my other needs.
 
a bushcraft knife, is the knife you take with you when you go to the woods.
A survival knife, is the one you have with you when you walk out the door of your home, at any given time.
 
Hawkings said:
a bushcraft knife, is the knife you take with you when you go to the woods.
A survival knife, is the one you have with you when you walk out the door of your home, at any given time.
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What if you, like many, many, go off to the woods with your big ol' chopper to have a grand old time beating the bejeebus outta trees? Does your Ranger RD9 then become a bushcraft knife?

Though, the second point I like. Because I do feel more awesome when I think of my Vic Classic as a "survival knife." 24/7 365 life and death struggle...that's the life I live!

At least I like to think that.
 
jimmyd1982 said:
If I use my bushcraft knife once the zombie apocalypse begins does it become a zombie knife or a survival knife?
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Well , if you survive zombie apocalypse it will be survival knife ...........if not , will be another one fallen zombie warrior with bushcraft knife ;)
 
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